£3m Devon County Council pledge for Exeter flood relief

Devon County Council (DCC) is set to invest £3 million into a vital flood relief scheme for Exeter.

Devon’s Cabinet approved the contribution at its meeting this morning.

Now, a Council spokesperson told the Exeter Daily, senior councillors will lobby the Environment Agency to try to bring forward the projected start of the scheme from January 2017.

They will hear that efforts to accelerate the £25 million scheme are dependent on raising £12 million locally.

That would be added to the £13 million national grant which the scheme is expected to attract.

It is also dependent on Devon working with the Environment Agency and Exeter City Council to produce a ‘spade-ready’ plan which could attract earlier national funding.

The Environment Agency scheme would upgrade the city’s existing flood defences and add new flood banks, walls and other structures.

Cabinet Member Stuart Hughes is chairman of the Devon Flood Risk Management Partnership.

He said: “The existing flood defences in Exeter have been severely tested recently by some of the exceptional rainfall we’ve had and the extreme flows in the River Exe.

“This is a critical scheme and it’s important we get on with it as quickly as possible.”

Andrew Leadbetter is the Devon Cabinet Member responsible for Exeter and a city councillor.

He said the scheme would provide increased protection for 3,000 homes in the city and 1,000 businesses.

“We’ve all seen some of the terrible flooding there’s been in other parts of the country in recent weeks,” he said.

“I think it’s really important for the whole city that these flood improvements start as soon as possible.

“We are working closely with the city council and the Environment Agency on this.

This funding matches the city council's pledge of £3m towards the £25m cost of the scheme put forward by the Environment Agency, which will provide £13m of the funding. It is hoped that the remaining £6m will come from the private sector.